10 Ways To Feel As Though You've Got Your Shit Together

Excuse the profanity, but sometimes we really do just need to take an afternoon to sort life out and yes, get our shit together. I truly believe that no one actually knows what they're doing in life (even that girl with the job you want and the coat you want and the Instagram you want, trust me), but occasionally we find the odd trick that helps us feel as though we do. Let's just address the below picture: highly staged, highly planned, highly not-what-the-corner-of-my-desk-currently-looks-like. No one has their shit together, but flowers and candles and books make us feel 'together', right?

Here are some tips that I hope will help you feel that bit more like yes life I got you:

1. Sort your CV out
I spent a good while applying for every job that was mildly relevant to my life/degree/minor interests, but no luck. I then, after stumbling upon a few excellent Pinterest articles (story of my life), realised how god-awful my CV was looking and decided it was time for a total rehaul. I dedicated a whole day to choosing a font, cutting down the useless waffle and making things look that bit more apealing. I now, miracle of miracles, have interviews lined up. Need inspo? Try here.


2. Create a LinkedIn profile
I thought LinkedIn was for stuffy corporate drones but oh how wrong I was. LinkedIn is a great way of expanding upon your CV and going into more detail in regard to your experience/life/any pointless awards you've received (D of E Bronze you were probably not worth it my friend). Adding your LinkedIn profile to your CV will leave you feeling like a real adult person. Just in case you're not feeling like one (is anyone?).


3. Clean
I'm one of those sad people who loves cleaning, I can't lie. A clean carpet? The best. Throwing stuff out? I'm there. Even if it's not your thing, everyone can benefit from a big "oh so that's where you got to" kind of clean. Clear out the junk you don't need, buy some storage boxes if you have to, sweep up the dust and get all minimalist. Clean the mould off your window (gross but necessary). Clean your makeup brushes (a pain but necessary). Your mind will feel clearer, trust me.

4. Make your space nice
Now it's clean, you can decorate. There are two things that I pretty much always need in my room in order to feel 'together': candles and flowers. They don't have to be pricey things either: the vase in the picture above cost me 80p in a thrift shop. Get yourself 3 bunches of daffodils for a pound (Nottingham flower stalls are great mind you) and a massive candle that will burn for a long time. And make your damn bed. Just do it.

5. Don't just scroll
Social media is great but it's also kind of the worst. How often do you find yourself scrolling down pictures of your friend of a friend's sister's holiday snaps on Instagram? Use social media, sure, but limit your time on it. For me, Pinterest is the only social media site that I feel productive on. I use it as inspo and to learn stuff (how to rehaul your CV, how to make nice food, to decide what kind of dog I want to get next year when I'm a fully fledged responsible adult) (seriously mom I'm half joking). Try to be mindful with social media, because it has a tendency to make us the opposite.

6. Treat yo beautiful self
Confession: when my nails aren't painted I don't feel together. When my roots come through (you don't even wanna see mine right now) I start getting agitated. It might seem vain and trivial, but if there are regimes you like to undertake that make you feel awesome, make time for them.

7. Plan and prep
Sitting down with my filofax for ten minutes to figure out where I need to be/what I need to have done and when always makes me feel together. Even if I end up doodling and using unicorns stickers over each page, at least it's time almost well spent. If you're not a serial organiser, give it a spin. Tick stuff off. You might just enjoy it.

8. Read the news
The amount of students I've encountered who don't read the news "because it's sad" or "because it's depressing" has seriously astounded me. Whatever your interests, staying up to date with what's going on in the world (bad and good) can only help you feel more engaged, put things in perspective and potentially inspire you.

9. Learn something new
It doesn't have to be anything crazy, but learning something new is always going to do you good. I watch so many Scandinavian shows that I've decided I want to learn the basics of each language. No, I'm never going to have the discipline to be a pro, but learning a little bit of something is a surefire way to feel not only as if you're on top of things, but as though you're ahead of the game.

10. Do what you need to do
Wear sportswear as though you actually gym (guilty) and drink wine out of an actual wine glass (never guilty, mug every time): if those things make you feel like you've got your shit together, good for you.

Jokes aside, I don't honestly thing we should be blatantly faking it as though we've actually got everything sussed out (we all know that person) but if there are a few things we can do to make ourselves feel as though we have, I say let's do them.

Got tips? Leave them below! xo